Rangers must capitalize on Astros turmoil following Dana Brown firing

There have been multiple points this season where the Texas Rangers could have snatched control of the AL West and run with it. Whether it was the getting swept at the hands of the Houston Astros right before the trade deadline or laying an egg with a 2-5 road trip against the bottom feeding Athletics and Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers always let these sorts of opportunities slip through their fingers.

Even now, Texas is fumbling it's advantage with an incredibly weak strength of schedule, producing a 10-11 record thus far in August. Sitting at 65-66, the Rangers are tied with the Astros for first in the AL West, and also are tied with Cleveland Guardians for the final AL wild card spot, but if the season ended today, they'd be sitting home thanks to the way the tiebreakers work.

We've even wondered allowed whether making the playoffs would be a negative for the team as it's become clear that more than a few tweaks are needed for this roster to yield real World Series contender results.

But sometimes a door opens that is just too enticing not to walk through. This is the type of opening that one can't help but try to take advantage of. We're talking about the chaos that is the Astros deciding to mutually part ways with general manager Dana Brown.

The timing of Astros Dana Brown dismissal creates a cloud of uncertainty for Rangers chief AL West rival

It's rare for a team in first place to essentially fire their general manager during the stretch run. It's even more odd to do it when said general manager just ran the draft and the trade deadline for you and is on an expiring contract. The Astros didn't need to make this move now, but their impulsive owner, Jim Crane, couldn't help himself.

Brown was firmly placed on the chopping block last season when Houston collapsed down the stretch and missed the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade. That failure turned up the heat dramatically, but Crane is also very tight with the purse strings, and that didn't give Brown much to work with over the offseason.

He tried to fix the Astros' broken pitching staff over the offseason with mostly value signings aside from the big splash for Tatsuya Imai. Imai has been a disaster, and nearly all of the dart throws Brown made to fill out his rotation have since been DFA'd. Their pitching collapsed during a losing homestand that seemed to seal Brown's fate.

The questions that now face Houston are large. Manager Joe Espada's contract also expires at season's end, and while one could say he's managing for his job, it might not matter anymore as any new GM is going to want to handpick his coaches.

The same goes for players on the chopping block. The Astros have an aging roster and a barren farm system (very similar to the Rangers, actually), and most of the current players have a tie to Brown one way or another. That could lead to some serious offseason upheaval, which will be hard to ignore with the season on the line.

This could be the moment when Houston begins to skid and fall out of the race entirely. The Rangers now have a huge opportunity to finally establish themselves as the class of the AL West. But to do so, they have to snap out of their own funk and start stringing together wins. If not, this already mediocre division will dive further into the depths of uninspired baseball.

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